Tips & Tricks Thursday – Campaign Chest Revisited

by Tiina on January 10, 2013

In keeping up with my goals for the new year, I’ve been doing some research regarding staining and refinishing furniture. If you remember, I’ve wanted to refinish some plain Ikea dressers into beautiful, Campaign chests (you can refresh your memory here). I found some really great blogs that have tackled the task of refinishing and restoring furniture, and they’re starting to get me excited about what my nightstands can become.

I’ve been going back and forth about painting vs. staining. There’s something really fun and intriguing about using an unexpected color. Here are some of the ones I’ve considered:

via Honey Sweet Home

via Pawleys Island Posh

via Traci Zelle Designs

via House Bella

via Innovative Interior

via Hone and Fitz

via Matters of Style

Okay, okay…. after looking at these again, maybe I’m still deciding (sigh!). The color options are endless and SO much fun! What I thought I had decided on doing (before reposting all of these pics!) was to keep it traditional and stain the piece. I thought that the natural wood would offset all of the deep grays (and bold stripes) I have in my bedroom. Here is my inspiration for staining:

via Our Sweet Life

It’s probably the stained wood against the striped wall that sold me! Looking at it now, I think that I’ve recommitted myself to staining (Seriously. This back and forth is a common occurrence in my mind…it’s the reason half of my design projects never get finished! Ugh!)

I’m still timid when it comes to the actual staining and “hacking” my Ikea RAST dressers. Really, the entire DIY thing scares the pants off of me! I’ll power through it, I suppose. Actually, I can’t wait to document the progress – beginning, fingers crossed, this weekend!.

In addition to the pics above, here are some of the other blogs that I found helpful and inspiring for refinishing and breathing new life into an old dresser, perhaps you will too!